TERRE HAUTE —
Donating our organs to others is probably not something most of us want to think about.
But organ donation can mean everything to a recipient, such as J.J. Watt, a Woodrow Wilson student whose life was saved by an organ donor he never knew.
“Someone I did not know … saved my life,” Watt told a crowd of about 50 people gathered in the lobby of Terre Haute Regional Hospital on Friday for “Linking Hands for Life,” an event organized by the hospital and the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization.
About 10 months ago, Watt received a donated liver. Up to that point, he had no energy and his condition was becoming “worse and worse and worse,” he said.
Now, “I do normal things,” Watt said. “When I was in bad condition, I never knew the difference. I thought that was just life.”
Friday’s event was also designed to encourage people to become organ donors. About 34 employees of Terre Haute Regional Hospital signed up to be donors Friday, said Marissa Trout, a registered dietitian at Regional and an organizer of the event.
A single organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and one tissue donor can save or enhance the lives of up to 75, according to IOPO. Last year, more than 25,000 lives in the U.S. were saved by organ transplants, the organization reports.
“If you would accept an organ, why would you not donate an organ?” Trout asked her audience before asking it to link hands in a show of support and hope for those needing organ and tissue donations.
There are more than 1,000 Hoosiers on the waiting list for a transplant and about 103,000 nationwide, according to IOPO. On average, 133 people are added to the nation’s waiting list each day and about 18 people die each day awaiting transplants, IOPO reports.
One family that made the choice to donate the organs of a loved one was that of Cameron S. Langenfeld, an 11-year-old boy killed in 2007 after he was struck by a car while riding his bicycle in Terre Haute. Cam’s mother, Pamela Bird, said organ donation helped her find something positive from her son’s tragic death.
Bird said Cam was generous, making the decision to donate less difficult for his family. “He was a very giving child. … That’s really how we came to the decision to donate his organs.”
Cam’s heart valves were donated to two young children, Bird said. Because of Cam, a 5-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy are “running around” today, she said. “He would be ecstatic knowing that.”
Some of Cam’s other organs allowed a 62-year-old grandmother to return to her family, Bird added. Cam’s heart could not be donated because “he damaged it in fighting to give us extra time,” she said.
An organ donor can be any age, and medical conditions do not exclude donations, according to IOPO. There is no charge to families of organ and tissue donors.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
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Raising awareness: J.J. Watt, 14, discusses how he can have a normal life thanks to a liver transplant during a Donate Life session to raise awareness to organ, donation Friday at Regional Hospital. At the bottom is a photo of Cam Langenfeld whose organs were donated after he died. Tribune-Star/ Joseph C. Garza
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A hand of support: Ruth Erickson and Jeffrey Watt, both liver transplant recipients, hold hands during the “Donate Life” flag raising Friday at Regional Hospital. Tribune-Star/ Joseph C. Garza
Discussion
Gift of life
J.J. now has normal life after liver transplant
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